Awakening, Ren felt the difference. He had slept much better and felt reinvigorated. So, when Sora knocked on the door of his room, the window shutters were already opened, allowing the light to pour in. He had even cleaned up his futon, folding it nicely and placing it in the corner with his bag of belongings.
"Good morning," he greeted her.
With a smile, she bowed slightly, then entered. "Good morning," she replied, before placing the tray on the floor.
He joined her, quickly grabbing the chopsticks to start devouring his breakfast. He was full of energy and had this inner conviction that everything was now on the right path, including the ghost and his story.
Sora watched him eat, maintaining her smile, as if there was something captivating in how he kept stuffing his face with rice.
Ren paid very little attention, as his mind wandered to the Tachibana clan and the connection it had with the Hearteater.
"Thank you," he finally said, returning to reality as he finished the meal.
"Uhm… I only brought the food," she pointed out.
"I know. Thank you for caring for me," he replied, putting his hand on her head and smiling slightly.
She immediately turned red and dropped her eyes to the floor.
"I’ll treat you to some good food later as a thank you," he promised. "But now I need to deal with my own troubles, but after I’m done you can expect a fest awaiting for her when you come to Hikarimura," he added, getting up.
He left the room with Sora in it and headed straight to the meditation chamber. The girl panicked, quickly picking up the dishes. But before she left, she took another look around the room with a smile on her face.
Moving fast, Ren reached the dimly lit chamber, filled with thick smoke. The old saishu was already waiting for him there, sitting on the ground. He greeted her briefly and then assumed the proper position with the Maken on his lap, closing his eyes.
Moments later, when his mind cleared, the vision came. Ren found himself in the middle of old Hikarimura.
The day was nice, with the sun shining and making the air hot. The buildings and people surrounded him. Most of the population was simply going about their lives, but there were a few people who stood out, particularly to him as they were recurring characters in this story.
One of them was the Hearteater, standing in the middle of the road and looking ahead at an approaching group of men wearing the dark blue kimonos of the Tachibana clan. The young guy in the front appeared to be leading them. Although Ren couldn't see his face, only the long black hair, he had this weird feeling that this fellow was quite pretty. Baby-faced would probably be the best term to describe him. He carried some feeling of familiarity as well, although Ren was unable to decipher why.
For a moment, he pondered whether these feelings were the emotions the ghost was projecting onto him or something else. But he didn't dwell on it for long, as he spotted the familiar face of the gorgeous girl among the group.
‘Did she send them after him? What's going on here...’
"You are the one looking to join the clan?" the handsome samurai asked, stopping a few steps away from the ghost.
"Yes," the Hearteater replied with a serious expression, displaying his resolve.
"Then I accept your challenge. Follow us. The whole clan will witness this fight. If you win, you will become Tachibana. If you lose, you will never show your face to us," said the samurai.
The Hearteater didn't respond, but as the group turned around and began to leave, he followed them. Soon they arrived in the Tachibana clan district. The gate was left open for them so they didn’t even stop once.
It was the first time Ren could actually see that place. It appeared to be much smaller than what he experienced when visiting the modern-time district. There were maybe several dozen houses capable of sheltering between two to three hundred people. This made Ren wonder if this could possibly help him determine the year in which the events from the visions were transpiring. He was so interested in this because it could allow him to check the other people he was observing in the visions, which would lead to a better understanding of everything.
There wasn't much in the history books he, his wife, and Reiko checked regarding this time period.
The whole procession stopped in the middle of the district on the main road, where many more members of the Tachibana clan had already gathered to watch the fight.
The handsome guy stayed there, while his entourage left, joining other observers. Then the young warrior turned toward the ghost.
"The fight will be fair. We will only showcase our skills, no shinryoku," he said. "Do you accept?"
"Yes," the Hearteater responded.
"Good," the handsome samurai acknowledged, pulling his katana. "I'll let you start the duel."
The ghost did the same with the wooden sword he was armed with. He first scanned his opponent, analyzing his stance, and then decided to move.
He opened with a quick stab, which was easily deflected, then swiftly switched the grip on the handle, cutting from below upwards. It surprised the Tachibana, who barely blocked the attack, responding with a cut from above. The ghost was already skilled at receiving those, so he positioned his stick perfectly for the edge of the katana to slide on the wood, creating an opening for him to hit the opponent's shoulder with the handle of his weapon.
The hit landed, making the young samurai furiously growl. He bared his teeth, and though Ren couldn't see this, as the face was blurred, he was pretty confident that the expression made this young fellow look unattractive.
The man responded with a barrage of swings, forcing the ghost to defend. Although he was able to parry everything without issue, the wooden shavings and bits were flying in the air, and the makeshift sword began accumulating enough damage that it became obvious it would soon fall apart.
The Tachibana noticed it as well, so he kept pressing on until the wooden katana finally snapped.
"You lose," he said, extending the weapon and aiming the tip at the ghost's heart.
"I lost only because I didn't have a real sword!" the Hearteater protested.
This made the young warrior let out a snort before looking to his left and then to the right, carefully watching the expressions on his fellow clan members' faces. There was nothing to indicate that they supported this opinion, nor anything to indicate that they found it outrageous.
"Fine!" The samurai shouted. "Give him a real sword! I'll beat him anyway!"
This made many of the clan's warriors look at one another, before one of them finally caved in, and pulled out his blade to bring it to the ghost. He accepted it with respect.
"This time, I'll start," the young samurai spoke again, with only the two of them in the middle of the road.
Then he jumped forward to attack, continuing his overwhelming assault of cuts and stabs. Like before, the Hearteater deflected everything, displaying superior swordsmanship. He was fast, precise, and calm, which, combined with the lack of the weakness his previous weapon had, made this whole exchange more beneficial for him, as he didn't waste as much energy.
Moments later, the Tachibana stopped, retreating with two quick jumps. He was panting heavily, exhausted by his unsuccessful attacks.
The ghost saw an opportunity and followed, striking widely. It was obvious that this attack would not do anything beyond keeping his opponent moving, and that was clearly his goal. After the cut was parried, he changed the grip on the handle, and slashed from below, trying to keep the Tachibana using the widest possible range of moves. This forced the ghost to change angles frequently.
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Ren immediately noticed the lack of fighting experience in this approach, but soon he began to notice something entirely different.
The Hearteater realized that he didn't have to put so much force into his slashes, so he started to feint quite a few times. From time to time, he would actually cut with the resolve to get his opponent.
At first, it was rough, but a couple of exchanges in, Ren had no doubt. 'I know this style. I've seen it already. It's the dance of shadows... in its infancy stages.' As he thought that, he realized something even more profound—the talent the ghost possessed. Even with limited sparring experience, he was outgrowing his opponents during the duel itself.
It was just a matter of time before among the feints a heavy attack appeared, and the Tachibana was unable to block it, allowing the Hearteater to slash him across the chest. He jumped back, avoiding most of the cut but still getting badly injured.
His blood was sprayed in the air, marking a bit of the dirt road with red droplets.
He stumbled, catching his balance at the last moment. This was only due to the fact that the ghost didn't follow up with an attack, already acknowledging that he had won.
Tachibana growled, baring his teeth. "It's not done yet!" he barked, and then his blade started to shine with shinryoku.
The energy must have filled his body as well, and the muscles relaxed. The exhaustion vanished as well. He charged immediately, striking with mighty force. The Hearteater defended, not without troubles, but he was able to keep up.
Until his blade broke. The shattered steel sprayed all around, forcing the ghost to close his eyes. He stumbled back, and the Tachibana seized the moment to jump forward, smashing him right in the face with the handle of his sword.
The Hearteater fell to the ground.
"You lost!" the samurai announced.
"You… You cheated!" The ghost argued.
This only further unleashed the fury of the young samurai. He screamed, then jumped again to land by his defeated opponent and started kicking him.
The Hearteater defended himself as best as he could, but he stood no chance against somebody using shinryoku. To make things worse, other members of Tachibana suddenly felt the urge to rush at him too, and a crowd just unleashed their anger at the poor peasant.
A few seconds in, they realized that they had given in to their fury and stopped one another before stepping back. By that time, the ghost was already bloody, barely moving on the ground, but still conscious.
At least a few of his bones were broken. His eyes got so swollen that it appeared he couldn't even open them. Blood was everywhere, and the puffy face, with skin broken in many places, turned into this sickly mix of blue and red.
He was mumbling something. As Ren listened more carefully, he was able to pick up on the words 'help' and 'save me.'
Realizing what they'd done, the clan members began moving away, but a few stayed. Among them appeared the beauty, and she slowly approached the Hearteater.
"H-help…," he begged.
Instead of helping him, she kicked him in the face.
"Monster!" She screamed. "Join the clan?! A peasant like you?! I tried to be nice to you, but give a filthy scum a finger, and they will take a whole hand! Stay away from me! You deserve this!" she screamed.
"Grab him," the pretty warrior instructed his fellow warriors.
They hesitated, but then one actually followed the order, and the rest came to help him.
The Hearteater was quickly wrapped in some fabric and then carried out of the district. Ren followed the procession since the vision was not coming to an end. The warriors walked for quite a while, going beyond the city, toward the village, but then they went around it, reaching the river going through the settlement.
As soon as they reached the water, they dumped the body into it.
With the loud sound of the half-dead man hitting the surface of the running river, the vision finally disappeared, and Ren opened his eyes.
"A long one this time," the saishu pointed out as she got up. "Come... Let's eat and talk about what you saw."
He nodded, but as soon as they left the meditation chamber, he couldn't help himself and began telling her about what he had witnessed.
"This is good," she pointed out as he finished. "You are making a breakthrough. I think those events are what made him the cold-blooded killer he has become, and that is why you are witnessing it. You need to push further and see it to the end."
He didn't reply to that, as the idea was familiar. Thinking it all through and repeating everything in his mind over and over, Ren not only reached the cafeteria but also finished his meal. He then returned all the way to the meditation chamber with the old lady, where they once again sat down in the smoke-covered, dimly lit space, and he closed his eyes to focus on the sword, trying to bring up another vision.
It came fast as if it was waiting for him.
Out of the blue, he was no longer in darkness but was standing on a riverbank, watching the shimmering water flow while humming its melody. It was crystal clear so close to the mountains it originated from, despite the human settlement located so close to it.
Behind his back was a dense forest with birds chirping in the canopy and leaves moving to the will of the wind.
Then something surprising happened. Ren did not register it at first, only after his eyes moved closely, noticing his own wobbly reflection in the running water. There was a man standing right next to him.
He gasped, despite the fact that it was only a vision, not reality, and even jumped slightly back, scared by this unexpected presence.
The man was tall, wearing an old black kimono and a large bamboo hat. Underneath that was a mask, which further obscured his face. Around his ankles and wrists were chained, as if he were a slave or a prisoner who had freed himself somehow. He was barefoot, which only further supported this theory.
He seemed to be looking up the river as if he expected something to come drifting from that direction, but his behavior changed the moment Ren panicked. He seemingly looked at him, scanning him from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, which appeared to be ridiculous since it was only a vision, and yet it happened.
"C-can you see me?" Ren stuttered, prompting the stranger to chuckle quietly.
It was shocking, and yet the emotions disappeared instantly, as the man's eyes returned to the river, focusing on something, which Ren also noticed. There was a body floating toward them.
The stranger, without hesitation, entered the water. Despite the heavy current and the fact that the river appeared to be quite deep, he had no problems getting in. It turned even more ridiculous as he got deeper since the water appeared to not hinder his movement at all.
In the very middle, he stopped, soon grabbing a body wrapped in a piece of fabric. Ren had no doubt it was the Hearteater.
The ghost was pulled away from the river and left on the riverbank. The man unwrapped him, allowing Ren to notice that the heavily beaten young man was still alive, although his breathing was shallow.
The stranger then left, heading into the nearby forest. The vision blurred only to return to the almost identical setting. Only some time appeared to pass. The ghost awakened. Unable to understand his situation or make sense of his surroundings, he somehow could move, so he crawled. He crawled all the way from the riverbank to the forest where he collapsed, and the vision blurred out again.
It returned almost immediately. More time appeared to pass as it was now morning. The ghost awakened once again, with a tiny bit more strength. This was enough for him to crawl deeper into the forest, just enough for Ren to see a campfire obscured by the trees and bushes. Soon from that direction came the stranger, who grabbed the Hearteater and began pulling him all the way to the fire.
The campfire was nicely surrounded by stones and placed in front of a cave, which at a steep angle was going underground. The stranger didn't have much. There was a backpack he kept by the entrance to the cave, the fire itself with a small pile of wood to use as fuel, and some fish pierced by sharpened sticks, which hung over the flames.
The man left the ghost close enough to keep him warm and then focused his attention on the food. As soon as the meal was ready, he moved it slightly away, sticking the sticks again into the ground. He started to grab them, one by one, and consumed the fish, until only a few were left. Those he kept, switching his attention to take care of the fire.
The vision blurred again, returning when the Hearteater awakened for the third time. He was groaning, trying to move, but as soon as he did, the stranger grabbed him and pulled him up to a sitting position, then gave him one of the sticks with the now cold fish. The young warrior ate without asking any questions, although the process was quite slow and occupied with a lot of pain.
With his belly full, he once again lost consciousness, and the stranger helped him to lie down close enough to the campfire to stay warm. The vision blurred once more, and when it returned Ren was brought to a bright early morning, with the sun barely peeking over the thick canopy, so everything was quite dim, except those few places where the sharp rays of light somehow made it through. Those spots were full of vibrant colors, mainly green.
"You need to eat," said the stranger as he noticed that the Hearteater was conscious. He had prepared new fish and some berries. He gave it all to the wounded man, who devoured everything.
"Thank... you," the ghost whispered with a voice so weak it could barely be heard once he was done eating.
„You were in need, so I helped. If I might ask, how did you end up in the river?” The mas asked returning to the fire to add a few pieces of a broken branch to the flames.
The Hearteater explained everything in a few words he was able to utter.
"So what are you gonna do now?" asked the stranger the moment the tale came to an end.
"I'm... not giving up..." the Hearteater stated. "I will return... I will... get stronger... They will have to... acknowledge me…"
"I'm a warrior too," suddenly the man confessed. "Although not like you, but I can understand why you are trying so hard. I could help you, you know?"
"How?" The ghost immediately asked.
"Here..." The stranger said as he got up. He approached his backpack and pulled out this thin book with a black cover. There was no title on it. He gave it to the young man. "This is a fencing manual. The techniques in it are amazing. If you could learn them… I'm sure you could beat anybody."
"I… I can't read," the Hearteater confessed.
"You don't have to read. There are drawings inside. You can learn the forms if you study the drawings, and that is something you can do," the man pointed out. "I would help you myself, but… I need to go. I need to leave today. There are some... They are looking for me."
The ghost's attention switched to the book, and he opened it. There the vision ended abruptly, and Ren awoke, confused, in the meditation room.
"Good," the old lady said as soon as his eyes fluttered open. "Let's go eat. I'm starving. You were in there for too long this time..." she said as she started to get up.
Ren followed her, but he couldn't wait to describe everything he had seen, so he began telling her about the vision as they walked. She had a full grasp of the events before they even reached the corridor.
"This is interesting..." She demed. "Some things appeared to be not real, but that is how things go with the visions. It’s the truth from the point of view of the ghost, but that is even better for you, as you can see everything with his eyes. Let's see what we find out tomorrow."
As they moved through the corridor, Ren spotted Sora and Reiko, so instead of following the saishu to the cafeteria, he left her side to help the girls as he had done many days before.